Program Evaluation

The Center’s staff and affiliates conduct evaluations of public health policies, programs, interventions, and health care and social service systems in an effort to improve their efficacy and efficiency. Dr. Deric Kenne, Director of the Division of Mental Health and Substance Use, Dr. John Hoornbeek, the Center’s Director, and Dr. Jonathan VanGeest, a faculty affiliate with the Center, as well as other staff and affiliates, routinely conduct program evaluations related projects and research in a variety of subject areas.

Ongoing and Recent Evaluation Projects

SUPPORTING PARTNERSHIPS TO ASSURE READY KIDS (SPARK) OHIO

A community-based initiative to evaluate the effectiveness of a family-focused early intervention to improve academic achievement and other outcomes among preschool grade children. The evaluation includes longitudinal and cross-sectional data collection from more than 1,000 children annually at more than 20 sites across the state.

Evaluation of Interventions to Address Chronic Disease in Lucas County, Ohio.

The Center has been involved in a multi-year evaluation of three initiatives being implemented in Lucas County, Ohio to combat chronic diseases in targeted populations. A coalition of health care and public health stakeholders, including the Hospital Council of Northwest Ohio and the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department, are implementing a healthy corner stores initiative, a smoke free environments program, and a community health worker program. The Center is assisting this coalition by providing feedback on program implementation through ongoing evaluations of the initiatives.

Past Evaluation Projects

TEAM APPROACH TO HEART FAILURE (TAHF)

A federally-funded project through the Agency for Health Care Quality and Research to evaluate the effectiveness of a social media campaign to improve the health of heart-failure patients by informing heart-failure patients, health care providers and dietitians about the nutritional guidelines for patients with heart failure. The evaluation component is a sub award from the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics who received the federal grant.

SUSTAIN IN THE EARLY GRADES DEMONSTRATION PROJECT: SPARK OHIO

A demonstration project to examine the efficacy of the SPARK Ohio program in rural communities. The evaluation not only seeks to measure the effectiveness of the SPARK Ohio program, but also seeks to examine issues related to the replication of the SPARK Ohio program in schools in rural Ohio communities. The evaluation is funded through a federal grant from the US Department of Education’s Race to the Top fund.

EVALUATION OF PROJECT KIND

An evaluation of a community-based intervention, developed by Community Solutions Association of Warren, to teach kindergarten children proper school behavior and etiquette.

PORTAGE COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM

The Center has been involved in assisting local public health officials and policymakers evaluate ways in which the local public health system in Portage County, Ohio could be improved. The Center’s early contributions to this process include the completion of an initial Community Health Needs Assessment, an Operational Assessment of the Ravenna Health Department, and the facilitation of a Local Public Health System Performance Assessment. More recently, the Center has received funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Shared Services Learning Community project to continue working with local public health officials and community stakeholders on its evaluation of the local health system and the development of a strategy for improvement. The Center has also received funding through the State of Ohio’s Local Government Innovation Fund (LGIF) to look at ways in which the Portage County Health Department and Ravenna Health Department could consolidate their operations and work together to provide health services.

USEPA TOTAL MAXIMUM DAILY LOAD PROGRAM

The Center completed an assessment of what is known about the implementation of Total Maximum Daily Loads nationally, and facilitation of a process for establishing federal accountability measures for state water pollution programs (2011). This project resulted in the development of potential national accountability measures for state water pollution programs nationwide., which could be implemented by USEPA. It followed a previous USEPA funded project which evaluated the implementation of pollution reduction actions called for in TMDL reports developed for the states of Ohio and West Virginia (2008).

Note: Publications, reports, and/or projects listed on the evaluation page may duplicate publications/projects highlighted in the various subject areas under the “Our Work” section of this website.